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Ruffino, produced in Tuscany, is one of the most recognizable brands of Italian wine. The first vintage of the famous Chianti was produced in 1877 by cousins Ilario and Leopoldo Ruffino. Within a few years, their wines were gaining recognition for their quality and winning awards and medals at international competitions. By the 1890s, the wine was exported internationally. In 1913... Read more

Ruffino, produced in Tuscany, is one of the most recognizable brands of Italian wine. The first vintage of the famous Chianti was produced in 1877 by cousins Ilario and Leopoldo Ruffino. Within a few years, their wines were gaining recognition for their quality and winning awards and medals at international competitions. By the 1890s, the wine was exported internationally. In 1913, with the absence of any heirs to pass down the Ruffino estate, the retiring Ruffino cousins sold the company to the Folonari family, who elevated the brand to huge commercial success. In 1916, the Duke of Aosta named Ruffino as the official wine of the Italian royal court. The Riserva Ducale is created in 1927 to honor this event.
Fun fact: Ruffino Chianti was reputedly among the wines sold by pharmacists during the Prohibition, said to calm nerves. Just after the Prohibition, in the early 1930s, the Ruffino Orivieto Classico was first released. Into the 1940s, World War II was a mixed blessing for Ruffino. The original Pontassieve Cellars were destroyed in a bomb attack, but this prompted the Folonaris to reconstruct with more up-to-date technology, as well as build and establish new estates and expand their enterprise. In 1947, the first bottlings of the acclaimed Riserva Ducale Oro Chianti Classico Riserva were produced. In the mid-1970s, Ruffino decided to abandon the iconic fiasco, the straw-bottomed bottle, and introduced the more upscale “Florentine” bottle for packaging. The next couple of decades saw several new additions to the portfolio and more worldwide success, overseen by a new generation of the Folonari family, Marco and Paolo. The ubiquitous wine brand is still enjoyed as one of the classic examples of Tuscan wines. Read less